Method and apparatus for allocating client resources to multiple applications

ABSTRACT

A quota management system for Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) in which the storage space available on connected storage devices is shared between multiple content providers or multiple software programs.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to data processing systems and, moreparticularly, resource management within a client device such as inpersonal video recorder.

2. Description of the Related Art

In current generation personal video recorders (PVRs), the storage spaceavailable is dedicated to the main (effectively only) applicationrunning on the PVR platform; namely, the storage of received content forsubsequent viewing. Unfortunately, the dedication of substantially allresources to a single application impedes service and feature expansion,thereby decreasing the value of a PVR to a user.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

These and other deficiencies of the prior art are addressed by thepresent invention of a quota management system for Personal VideoRecorders (PVRs) in which the storage space available on connectedstorage devices is shared between multiple content providers or multiplesoftware programs. The quota system controls the use of storage spacefor recording television programs by multiple software applications fromone or more vendors.

A method for adapting a resource allocation according to one embodimentof the invention comprises: receiving, from a server, a provisioningrequest including resource allocation parameters associated with atleast one application, said resource allocation parameters indicative ofa resource allocation for said at least one application; identifyingavailable resources; and reserving available resources for said at leastone set of applications according to said resource allocationparameters.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The teachings of the present invention can be readily understood byconsidering the following detailed description in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a high-level block diagram of an information distributionsystem suitable for use with the present invention;

FIG. 2 depicts a high level block diagram of a personal video recorder(PDR) suitable for use in the information distribution system 100 ofFIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A and 3B graphically depict models of management methodsaccording to various embodiments of the invention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B graphically depict flow diagrams of interactions betweenthe various functional elements invoked according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 5 depicts a flow diagram of a method according to an embodiment ofthe invention; and

FIG. 6 depicts a flow diagram of a volume validation routine suitablefor use by a monitor application in an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 depicts a flow diagram of a volume creation and maintenanceroutine suitable for use by a volume manager according to an embodimentof the present invention; and

FIG. 8 depicts a flow diagram of a volume monitoring method suitable foruse by a monitor application in an embodiment of the present invention.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have beenused, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common tothe figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention will be described within the context of a quota managementsystem for Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) in which the storage spaceavailable on connected storage devices is shared between multiplecontent providers or multiple software programs. The quota systemcontrols the use of storage space for recording television programs bymultiple software applications from one or more vendors.

In one embodiment, a central entity such as a cable operator or PVRservice provider (e.g., a server) controls the use of the storage spaceby multiple applications based on the quota system. Different vendorsproviding content to the user through the PVR gain permission from thisservice provider to reserve memory space or to use a general area (orother PVR resources). In one embodiment, the invention provides a methodand apparatus to share and/or reserve the storage space in multiple AVhard drives connected to a PVR.

FIG. 1 depicts a high-level block diagram of an information distributionsystem suitable for use with the present invention. A client computer orset top box (STB) 104 is connected to a presentation device 102 such asa television or other audiovisual display device or component(s). Theclient computer or set-top box 104 may also comprise a personal videorecorder (PVR) such as described below with respect to FIG. 2. Theconnection between client computer 104 and presentation device 102allows client computer 104 to tune and/or provide a presentation signal(e.g., a television signal) to presentation device 102. The presentationdevice may be connected to the client device through a home network. Theoutput of the client computer may be further processed by thepresentation device before presentation. The functions of thepresentation device may be distributed across multiple devices.

Client 104 is also connected to a communication system 106. In oneembodiment, communication system 106 includes a telephone network andthe Internet. In other embodiments, communication system 106 couldinclude a network, the Internet without a telephone network, a dedicatedcommunication system, a cable or satellite network, a single connectionto another computer or any other means for communicating with anotherelectronic entity. The communication system 106 is also connected to aserver 108, such as a Unix or Windows server computer or a broadcasthead-end.

The inventors contemplate that the system 100 may be logically segmentedinto a server function and a client function. The various functions maybe implemented as a method by one or more processors. The functions maybe embodied as software instructions within a signal bearing medium or acomputer product. Within the context of a peer to peer network, theserver functions and client functions may both be implemented on clientand/or server devices.

FIG. 2 depicts a high level block diagram of a personal video recorder(PVR) suitable for use in the information distribution system 100 ofFIG. 1. Specifically, the PVR 200 of FIG. 2 may be employed to implementthe client device 104 discussed above with respect to FIG. 1. The PVR200 of FIG. 2 comprises an input device 105, a receiver module 210, astorage module 220, a presentation module 230, and a control module 240.

The receiver module 210 receives television programs, applications andother content from a content transmission system such as the network 106discussed above with respect to FIG. 1. The receiver module 210 includesall of the circuitry necessary to implement at least one of analogtelevision reception, digital television reception, and data reception.The receiver module 210 is controlled by the control module 240 via areceiver module control signal RMC. The receiver module 210 and controlmodule 240 communicate with each other to effect desired contentselections, channel selections and the like. The receiver module 210provides selected received content to the storage module 220. Thereceived content RC provided to the storage module 1220 may comprisecompressed content, decompressed content, data and the like.

The storage module 220 comprises one or more mass storage devices forstoring received content RC provided by the receiver module 210. Thestorage module 220 may comprise a single mass storage device, aplurality of mass storage devices, an array of mass storage devices, andthe like. The storage module 220 is controlled by the control module 240via a storage module control signal SMC. The storage module 220 andcontrol module 240 communicate with each other to effect desired logicaland physical partitioning of the one or more mass storage devices,selection of compression/decompression formats and other operatingdetails associated with the storage and retrieval of content from themass storage device(s).

The presentation module 230 processes a stored content stream SCprovided by the storage module 220 to produce a display signal DSsuitable for use by a presentation device, such as a television monitor,computer display device and the like. For example, in the case of thestorage module providing a compressed digital video stream (andassociated audio streams), the presentation module 230 includesappropriate decompression/decoder circuitry along with presentationcircuitry such that a correctly formatted display stream DS is providedto the display device. The display stream DS may comprise a NationalTelevision Standards Committee (NTSC) analog display signal, a digitaldisplay signal or any other signal format as desired, depending upon thetype of display device utilized. The presentation module 230 iscontrolled by the control module 240 via a presentation module controlsignal PMC. The presentation module 230 and control module 240communicate with each other to effect desired decompression/deencryptionprocessing, format processing, image processing and other functionsassociated with processing the stored content stream SC to produce thedisplay signal DS.

The control module 240 comprises a processor 246 as well as memory 248for storing programs P and data D. The memory 248 may also store anoperating system OS supporting the programs P. The processor 246cooperates with conventional support circuitry such as power supplies,clock circuits, cache memory and the like, as well as circuits thatassist in executing the software routines stored in the memory 248. Assuch, it is contemplated that some of the steps discussed herein assoftware processes may be implemented within hardware, for example ascircuitry that cooperates with the processor 246 to perform varioussteps. The control module 240 also contains input/output (I/O) circuitry242 that forms an interface between the various functional elementscommunicating with the control module 240.

Although the control module 240 is depicted as a general purposecomputer that is programmed to perform various control functions inaccordance with the present invention, the invention can be implementedin hardware as, for example, an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC) or field programmable gate array (FPGA). As such, the processsteps described herein are intended to be broadly interpreted as beingequivalently performed by software, hardware or a combination thereof.

The control module 240 may be operably coupled to a number of devices orsystems. For example, the I/O circuitry 242 in FIG. 2 is depicted asinterfacing to an input device 205 (e.g., a keyboard, mouse, remotecontrol and the like), a network (e.g., communication system 106), adisplay device (e.g., presentation device 102), a receiver module 210, astorage module 220 and a presentation module 230.

Various embodiments of the invention may be implemented as a computerprogram product wherein computer instructions, when processed by acomputer, adapt the operation of the computer such that the methodsand/or techniques of the present invention are invoked or otherwiseprovided. Instructions for invoking the inventive methods may be storedin fixed or removable media, transmitted via a data stream in abroadcast media, and/or stored within a working memory within acomputing device operating according to the instructions.

Generally speaking, the Personal Video Recorder (PVR) of FIG. 2comprises functional modules adapted to receive television signals (ineither analog form or digital form), and process, encode and store thesignals as digital data on one or more storage devices and modules. ThePVR 200 is adapted to play back the stored television program byaccessing the stored data from the storage devices, decoding andpresenting the stored data in audio/visual form. In addition to thesemodules, the PCR 200 includes an operating system or an environment toexecute software programs such as a Java Virtual Machine. The PVR usesthe input device 105 to collect response from the user and may contain(or may be connected to) a display device where software programs canpresent screens visible to users.

The Recording Manager RM is a module that accepts requests from softwareprograms to record television programs. The recording requests may befor television programs being broadcast at the time of the request orfor television programs to be recorded in the future. The recordingmanager stores these requests and initiates the recording at thespecified start time and stops the recording after the requestedduration of the program has been recorded.

The Volume Manager VM is a module that maintains information aboutvarious quotas and reservations for space management. In one embodiment,the Volume Manager enforces quotas by using Logical Volumes. A LogicalVolume is a container to store, for example, recorded televisionprograms. A Quota is a limiting value that specifies the maximum amountof storage space that can be used for storing recorded programs in theLogical Volume. For example a Quota value of 5 GB for a Logical Volume,means the total amount of space used for all the recorded programs inthat Logical Volume should not exceed 5 GB at any time. A Reservation isa value that specifies the minimum amount of space that is guaranteed tobe available in a Logical Volume to store recorded programs. For examplea Reservation value of 2 GB for a Logical Volume means that there wouldbe at least 2 GB of storage space that will be available on the LogicalVolume to store recorded programs.

The Monitor Application MA is a software program with special accessrights that is authorized by the PVR service provider to control variousfunctions of the PVR. The Monitor Application MA optionally communicateswith a server (e.g., server 108) to collect parameters supporting itsfunctionality. The Monitor Application has permission to create Logicalvolumes, Modify or Delete Logical Volumes created by other softwareprograms. The Monitor application also has permissions to change orremove Reservation values for Logical Volumes. The Monitor applicationalso has permissions to change, set or remove Quota values for LogicalVolumes. When an application requests the Volume Manager to reservespace on a Logical Volume, the Volume Manager checks with the MonitorApplication before allowing the request by invoking a module within theMonitor Application. The Monitor Application may grant or deny therequest to reserve space.

The Monitor Application MA uses Allocation Provisioning Information todecide whether a request from an application to reserve space in astorage device should be granted or not. If the request is granted, theVM then decides the amount of space granted based on the value specifiedby the Monitor Application. Monitor Application also uses AllocationProvisioning Information to set Quotas on Logical Volumes.

Allocation Provisioning Information may be provided in various forms. Inone form, the Allocation Provisioning Information specifies that anysoftware programs could reserve any amount of space on any storagedevice and, if space is available in that device, to grant thereservation.

In another form, the Allocation Provisioning Information identifiesmultiple groups of software programs that are allowed to makereservations and the maximum value allowable for each group. In thisform combined value for all reservations from programs belonging to agroup should not exceed the specified maximum value. In this case thegroup of software programs may be specified as software programs with aspecified value of an associated attribute tag. The tag comprises, invarious embodiments, a data structure such as one or more bits, adatabase entry, a group or program identifier and the like

In another form, the Allocation Provisioning Information identifiesmultiple groups of software programs that are allowed to create LogicalVolumes and the quota values to be set for these Logical Volumes.

In another form, the Allocation Provisioning Information is a functionof the storage space available on the PVR (e.g. percentage of total oravailable storage space), characteristics of the subscriber (e.g.,premium or standard) of the PVR Service, or characteristics of thesoftware program (e.g., preferred or standard) that requests thereservation. In another form, the Allocation Provisioning Information isretrieved from a server connected to the PVR through a communicationnetwork (e.g., server management of subscriber PVR).

The interactions between software programs, the recording manager, thevolume manager and the monitor application will now be discussed in moredetail.

FIGS. 3A and 3B graphically depict models of management methodsaccording to various embodiments of the invention. Specifically, andreferring to FIG. 3A, the model 300A is divided into a first group offunctional elements denoted as logical partitions and volumes, and asecond group of functional elements denoted as physical devices andphysical partitions. The logical partitions and volumes comprise a firstdata volume 310, a second data volume 320 and a quota restrictionmanager 330. The quota restriction manager 330 is used to manage quotarestrictions and may be implemented via the recording manager and/or thevolume manager. The quota restriction manager 330 provides management ofdefault volume space 332, first volume space 334 and second volume space336. The first volume space 334 is set equal to a quota of X%. Thesecond volume space 336 is set equal to a quota of Y%. The defaultvolume space is set equal to 100% minus (X+Y)%.

The Default Volume is a designated one of the Logical Volumes in astorage device. The space available on the Default Volume is the spaceremaining on the storage device after reservations on all other LogicalVolumes on that storage device are enforced. In one embodiment of theinvention, the Volume Manager creates the default volume on each of theconnected storage devices. In this model the Logical Volumes may bedistributed across multiple physical partitions on multiple storagedevices.

The physical device and physical partitions portion comprises one ormore hard disk drives which, either individually or in any combination,support a plurality of data partitions (illustratively two) denoted as370 ₁ and 370 ₂, as well as a plurality of media partitions(illustratively two) denoted as 380 ₁ and 380 ₂. It is noted that thedata partitions 370 and media partitions 380 may be stored on individualhard disks in their entireties and/or have portions stored on or acrossmultiple hard disks or mass storage devices.

FIG. 3B depicts a model 300B similar to the model 300A discussed abovewith respect to FIG. 3A. Specifically, the model 300B of FIG. 3Bincludes the data volumes 310, 320, data partitions 370 and mediapartitions 380 as discussed above. However, the quota restrictionmanager 330 is configured differently in the model 300B. Specifically,the quota manager 330 of the model 300B comprises a first volume 334having a quota of X% and a default volume 338 having available space of100%. The default volume 332 has available space of 100%-X%. In thismodel each Logical Volume is fully contained within a physicalpartition.

In the models 300A and 300B of FIG. 3, data partitions (370) and mediapartitions (380) visible to applications are accessed through generalpurpose file system APIs, such as java.io.File. In one embodiment, thePVR Service provider requires all PVRs to have a specified percentage ofthe total storage capacity available to store non-media files. The PVRservice provider may also enforce a requirement that specifies that agiven percentage of storage space in each storage device connected tothe PVR is available to store non-media files. In both of these cases,the remainder of the storage space is available to store media content.The space available for storing media files on the PVR may be spreadacross multiple hard-disks or other mass storage devices.

FIGS. 4A and 4B graphically depict flow diagrams of interactions betweenthe various functional elements invoked according an embodiment to thepresent invention. Specifically, the flow diagrams of FIGS. 4A and 4Bare divided into four regions; namely, a software program (SP) region, arecording manager (RM) region, a volume manager (VM) region, and amonitor application (MA) region. Each of the regions denotes steps thatthe particular element (i.e., SP, RM, VM and MA) takes, includinginteractions between elements.

FIG. 4A depicts module interactions for recording programs. Referring toFIG. 4A, a software program SP requests a recording at step 410. Therequest is received and stored by the recording manager RM at step 420.If no volume is specified in the recording request, at step 421 therecording manager selects a default volume. At step 422 the RM checks tomake sure that the application has rights to record on the volume.Information necessary to make this determination is provided, in oneembodiment of the invention, by the volume manager VM providing accessto control information for the volume at step 421.

At step 423, the RM verifies that quota and reservations for the one ormore volumes to be used have not been violated. Information necessary toverify is provided by the volume manager at step 431, where quota andreservation information for the volume is provided. In one embodiment,the RM adds up the space used up by all recorded programs stored on alogical volume to make sure that any quota restrictions on that Logicalvolume are not exceeded. Similarly, if space is reserved on a Logicalvolume, the Recording Manager verifies that at least the reserved amountof space is always available on the volume to store television programs.When television programs are stored in a logical volume, the RecordingManager updates the available space on that volume based on the spacealready used up by the television programs.

At step 424, the RM takes corrective action if either the quota orreservations for the volume are violated. If corrective action is taken,then a notification of corrective action is communicated to the softwareprogram SP at step 411.

Where the application has rights (step 422) and both quota andreservations are not violated (step 423), the RM starts recording thetelevision program or other content at the specified time (step 425).After starting a recording, a notification of recording start iscommunicated to the software program at step 412.

At step 426, the quotas and reservations are periodically verified bythe RM to determine that they have not been violated. In the case of aviolation, steps 424 and 411 are repeated. In the case of no violation,the recording of television programming or other content is stopped at aspecified time (step 427), and notification about the recording stop iscommunicated to the SP (at step 413).

In one embodiment, the Recording Manager enforces the volumerestrictions by periodically checking the space usage on all volumes tomake sure none of the restrictions are violated. The checks forenforcing volume restriction may also be implemented on modules thatwrite data on to storage devices. If the Recording Manager detects thatany of the volume restrictions are about to be violated or are alreadyviolated, the Recording Manager takes corrective actions (424) torectify the situation. Some examples of corrective actions includeterminating the recording, deleting the recording that caused theviolation, deleting one or more programs in the volume or volumes thatexceeded the limit, or invoking a software function specified by one ofthe software programs to handle the situation.

FIG. 4B depicts module interactions for the location and management of avolume. At step 414, the software program SP requests the creation ofone or more logical volumes. The logical volume(s) are to be created onany of the connected storage devices within, for example, the storagemodule 220. The request to create a new volume may specify a storagedevice, in which case the volume will be created on that storage device.If a storage device is not specified, the volume manager decides onwhich storage device to create the logical volume. In this case, thevolume manager may create a logical volume that spans across multiplestorage devices. At step 432, the volume manager receives a request and,at step 433, creates a logical volume if the software application hasappropriate permissions.

The volume manager also propagates a notification of the creation of anew volume to the monitor application at step 440. The MonitorApplication uses the Allocation Provisioning information to decidewhether to set a quota value for the newly created volume. If a quotavalue has to be set, the Monitor Application gets the value for thequota from the Allocation Provisioning Information. Software programsmay also request the Volume Manager to set a Quota for a Logical Volume.

At step 441, if the allocation provisioning information specifiessetting quotas, the monitor application requests that a quota be set.The request is propagated to the volume manager. At step 434, the volumemanager sets a quota for the created volume. At step 435, if the quotais being violated, programs are deleted to eliminate the violation.

At step 415, a software program requests reservations on a volume, whichrequest is received by the volume manager at step 436. At step 437, thevolume manager sends a request to the monitor application to check ifthe requested reservation should be granted. That is, software programsmay request the Volume Manager to reserve a specified amount of storagespace for the logical volume. When the Volume Manager receives such arequest, the Volume Manager checks with the Monitor Application to seeif the request should be allowed or denied. This check is performed viavarious methods. One such method is by invoking a software routinewithin the Monitor Application. Another method is to send a request tothe Monitor Application to verify if the reservation request should begranted or not.

At step 442, if the allocation provisioning information allows such areservation, the monitor application returns a value for the allowedspace reservation (e.g., an amount of space for storage capacity). Uponreceiving the request, the Monitor Application uses the AllocationProvisioning Information to decide whether the request should be grantedor denied. For example if the request to reserve space originated froman application A, and if the Allocation Provisioning Information statesthat application A should be granted a reservation of up to 5 GB ofspace, the Monitor application should grant up to 5 GB of spacereservation for the application. In one embodiment of the invention, themonitor application uses input from the user to decide how much space ona mass storage device should be granted for the application.

At step 438, the volume manager creates the appropriate reservation on alogical volume. While creating a Logical volume or any time after that,an application with sufficient access rights may optionally specifycriteria to the Volume Manager for identifying software programs thatshould be allowed to store television programs on the Logical volume.The Recording Manager interfaces with the Volume Manager to gatherinformation about these criteria. The Recording Manager prevents anysoftware program that does not match the criteria to request televisionprograms from being stored in the specified volume.

Allocation provisioning information may be provided in various forms. Inone form, the reservation information allows any software programs toreserve any amount of space on any storage device and, if space isavailable in that device, to grant the reservation. In another form, theinformation identifies a set of software programs that are allowed tomake reservations and the maximum value allowable for each softwareprogram. In this case the set of software programs may be specified assoftware programs with an associated attribute tag. The attribute tagassociated with the software program may be transmitted or distributedalong with the software program. The attribute tag for software programsmay be transmitted separately to the PVR through an index table thatincludes entries for software programs and all attribute tags associatedwith the software program. In another form, the reservation informationis a function of the storage space available on the PVR (e.g. percentageof total or available storage space), characteristics of the subscriber(e.g., premium or standard) of the PVR Service, or characteristics ofthe software program (e.g., preferred or standard) that requests thereservation. In another form, the information is retrieved from a serverconnected to the PVR through a communication network (e.g., servermanagement of subscriber PVR).

When a volume is created or when a reservation is made, the monitorapplication may request the volume manager to add additionalrestrictions on the volume. The Monitor application could request theVolume manager to restrict the space usage on the volume to a givenlimit, or the Monitor application can impose limits on the set ofapplications that can access the Logical volume.

If a Monitor application is not active in a PVR implementing thissystem, the Volume Manager and the Recording Manager may assume the roleand functionality of the Monitor Application. Even when the VolumeManager assumes the functionality of a monitor application, previouslycreated volumes and reservations are not changed by the Volume Manager.

The Volume Manager gives a Monitor application the right (442) to changethe values of any previously allowed reservation on any Logical Volume.These include adding more space to a reservation, removing space from areservation, or deleting a reservation. A Monitor application can createa new Logical volume and reserve space on the Logical Volume and allowother applications to store television programs in the Logical Volume.The Monitor application may use reservation information to create suchLogical Volumes and make reservation on Logical Volumes.

If a request to reserve space is made when the monitor application isnot active, the Volume manager may grant (434) the request, providedspace is taken away only from the default Logical volumes. When themonitor application gets control again, the monitor app may delete (444)the newly created logical volume or the reservation associated with it.

When a Logical volume is reduced in size (by the monitor application),the Volume manager deletes stored content if needed, to make sure thatthe Logical volume is not using more space than allowed.

If the PVR Service provider changes or if a new set of monitorapplications are activated, a new monitor application could deleteLogical volumes authorized by the earlier monitor application. A NewMonitor application or a software program could set up one or morelogical volume for reserved space. These requests will be approved by amodule registered by the new monitor application.

When a new hard disk is inserted, the Volume Manager formats and hardpartitions the disk to data and media partitions. The Volume Managerwill make the newly added media space available to software programs torecord television program. If a monitor application is active, theVolume manager notifies the monitor application about the availabilityof the new space. The monitor application could modify quotarestrictions at this point.

FIG. 5 depicts a flow diagram of a method according to an embodiment ofthe invention. Specifically, FIG. 5 depicts a flow diagram of a methodaccording to an embodiment of the invention and suitable for use withthe PVR of FIG. 2.

The method 500 of FIG. 5 is entered at step 510, when a provisioningcommand is received by the client device. At step 520, application setresource allocations are extracted from the provisioning command. Thatis, referring to box 515, resource allocations defined in terms ofmemory space, processing time, quality of service (QoS) and othercriteria are extracted from the provisioning command. A provisioningcommand may be associated with an application or broadcast request.

At step 530, the available resources within the client device areidentified and, at step 540, a determination is made as to whethersufficient resources exist to satisfy the extracted application setresource allocations. If insufficient resources exist, then at step 550the resource allocations are adapted per the provisional guidelines. Ifthe resources are sufficient (or the adaptation of the resourcesallocations has occurred per step 550), then at step 560 the availableresources are allocated using the application set resource allocationsas extracted from the provisioning command or as adapted per step 550.

At step 570, the method manages/monitors the resource utilization of thevarious application sets invoked within the client environment. At step580, a determination is made as to whether a new provisioning commandhas been received. If a new command has not been received, then themethod 500 continually manages/monitors resource utilization of theexisting application set. If the new provisioning command has beenreceived, then the method processes the new provisioning command byrepeating steps 520 through 560 and then continues to manage/monitorresource utilization of the application sets at 570.

FIG. 6 depicts a flow diagram of a volume validation routine suitablefor use by a monitor application in an embodiment of the presentinvention. Specifically, the monitor application volume validationmethod 600 of FIG. 6 is performed, per step 610, periodically (e.g.,daily, weekly, or at some other interval) or when a PVR boots up (e.g.,upon a power on or warm start).

Per step 620, the method 600 is performed for every logical volume.Thus, for a first iteration of the method a first logical volume isselected. The method 600 is exited when each logical volume has beenprocessed.

At step 630, a determination is made as to whether the selected logicalvolume should be deleted. If the query at step 630 is answeredaffirmatively, then at step 640 the selected logical volume is deletedand the method returns to step 620 to select the next logical volume. Ifthe query at step 630 is answered negatively, then at step 650 a queryis made as to whether a reservation or quota value associated with theselected logical volume should be changed. If no such change isindicated, then the method proceeds to step 620 to select the nextlogical volume. Otherwise, at step 660 the reservation and/or quotavalue associated with the selected logical volume is changed bypropagating a change request to the volume manager. The method thenproceeds to step 620 where the next logical volume is selected.

FIG. 7 depicts a flow diagram of a volume creation and maintenanceroutine suitable for use by a volume manager according to an embodimentof the present invention. The volume creation and maintenance method 700of FIG. 7 is entered at step 705, when a request is received from asoftware program. At step 710, a determination is made as to whether thesoftware program request comprises a volume creation request. If therequest comprises a volume creation request, then at step 715 adetermination is made as to whether the software program has permissionto perform this task. If the software program does not have permission,then the method proceeds back to step 705 to await a next request. Ifthe software program does have permission, then at step 720 the volumeis created and the method 700 proceeds to step 705 to await the nextrequest.

If the request is not a volume creation request, then at step 725 aquery is made as to whether the request is a reservation request. If thesoftware program has made a reservation request, then at step 730 themonitor application is queried to determine if the reservation requestmay be honored. If the monitor application denies the request, then themethod 700 returns to step 705 to await the next request. If the monitorapplication allows the request, then at step 735 the allowed value ofspace is reserved on a volume, and the method 700 returns to step 705.

If, at step 725, a reservation request has not been received, then atstep 740 a determination is made as to whether a set quota request hasbeen received. If a set quota request has been received, then at step755 a determination is made as to whether the software program haspermission to effect such a request. If the software program does nothave permission, then the method 700 returns to step 705. If thesoftware program does have permission, then the method proceeds to step760 where the quota on the volume is correspondingly set. At step 765, aquery is made as to whether the space usage exceeds the quota. If thespace usage does not exceed the quota, then the method returns to step705. If the space usage does exceed the quota, then at step 770, someprograms are deleted to insure that the space usage does not exceed thequota. The method then proceeds to step 705.

If, at step 740, a set quota request was not received, then at step 745a query is made as to whether a delete volume request has been received.If a delete volume request has not been received, then the method 700proceeds to step 705. If a delete volume request has been received, thenat step 750 a determination is made as to whether the software programhas permission to effect such a request. If the SP does have permission,then at step 755 the volume is delete and the method returns to step705. If the SP does not have permission at step 750, then the methodreturns directly to step 705.

FIG. 8 depicts a flow diagram of a volume monitoring method suitable foruse by a monitor application in an embodiment of the present invention.Specifically, the method 800 of FIG. 8 is entered at step 805 when amonitoring application receives a message from a volume manager. At step810, a determination is made as to whether the received messagecomprises a volume creation notification. If the received messagecomprises a volume creation notification, then at step 815 theapplication programming interface (API) is checked to determine if aquota should be set. If such a quota should be set, then at step 820 thequota is set for the volume. The method then proceeds to step 805 toawait the next message.

If the received message is not a volume creation notification, then atstep 825 a determination is made as to whether the received messagecomprises a reservation validation request. If not a reservationvalidation request, then the method 800 proceeds to step 805 to awaitthe next message. Otherwise, the method proceeds to step 830, where theAPI is checked to determine if the reservation validation request isallowed. If not allowed, then at step 835 a denial message istransmitted and the method 800 proceeds to step 805. If allowed, then atstep 840 a message to the volume manager is set indicating that theallowed space is provided, and the method 800 proceeds to step 805.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art and informed by theteachings of the present invention that the functionality of the VolumeManager, Recording Manager and/or Monitor Application may be distributedacross various modules of a PVR. That is, any one or more of thereceiver module 210, storage module 220, presentation module 230, andcontrol module 240 may be used to perform some or all of thesefunctions.

While the foregoing is directed to the preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may bedevised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scopethereof is determined by the claims that follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, at a computingdevice in communication with at least one storage device, a request froma software program to reserve an amount of storage space on at least onevolume associated with the at least one storage device; determining, bythe computing device, that the software program is allowed to reservethe amount of storage space in accordance with allocation provisioninginformation defining a maximum amount of space the software program canreserve on the at least one volume; based at least in part ondetermining that the software program is allowed to reserve the amountof storage space, reserving the amount of storage space on the at leastone volume for the software program such that the amount of storagespace is available to the software program when the software programschedules or starts a recording of media content; subsequent toreserving the amount of storage space, monitoring use of the at leastone volume to determine whether a quota has been violated, the quotaspecifying a maximum amount of space that can be used for storing mediacontent on the at least one volume, and the maximum amount of space thatcan be used for storing media content on the at least one volume beingdifferent from the maximum amount of space the software program canreserve on the at least one volume; and responsive to determining thatthe quota has been violated, deleting at least one item of media contentfrom the at least one volume to eliminate the violation.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein the at least one storage device comprises at leastone media partition that is dedicated to storing media content and atleast one data partition that is dedicated to storing data other thanmedia content, wherein the at least one volume comprises memory spacefrom both the at least one media partition and the at least one datapartition.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving arecording request from the software program that informs the computingdevice that the software program intends to schedule or start arecording of media content.
 4. The method of claim 3, furthercomprising: subsequent to receiving the recording request, checking fora quota violation, resulting in a determination that the quota is notviolated; and subsequent to the determination that the quota is notviolated, performing the recording of media content.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein monitoring use of the at least one volume to determinewhether the quota has been violated comprises determining whether themaximum amount of space that can be used for storing media content onthe at least one volume has been exceeded.
 6. The method of claim 1,further comprising: creating the at least one volume; and subsequent tocreating the at least one volume, setting the quota on the at least onevolume.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein reserving the amount ofstorage space on the at least one volume for the software programcreates a reservation specifying the amount of storage space, andwherein the method further comprises: determining whether thereservation should be changed, wherein determining whether thereservation should be changed is performed according to at least one ofa periodic interval or during a boot up of the computing device; andresponsive to determining that the reservation should be changed,changing the reservation.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, at the computing device, a volume creation request from thesoftware program specifying the at least one volume; determining thatthe software program has permission to create the at least one volume;and responsive to determining that the software program has permissionto create the at least one volume, creating the at least one volume. 9.An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and memory storinginstructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, causethe apparatus at least to: receive a request from a software program toreserve an amount of storage space on at least one volume associatedwith at least one storage device that is in communication with theapparatus, determine that the software program is allowed to reserve theamount of storage space in accordance with allocation provisioninginformation defining a maximum amount of space the software program canreserve on the at least one volume, based at least in part ondetermining that the software program is allowed to reserve the amountof storage space on the at least one volume, reserve the amount ofstorage space on the at least one volume for the software program suchthat the amount of storage space is available to the software programwhen the software program schedules or starts a recording of mediacontent, subsequent to reserving the amount of storage space, monitoruse of the at least one volume to determine whether a quota has beenviolated, the quota specifying a maximum amount of space that can beused for storing media content on the at least one volume, and themaximum amount of space that can be used for storing media content onthe at least one volume being different from the maximum amount of spacethe software program can reserve on the at least one volume, andresponsive to determining that the quota has been violated, delete atleast one item of media content from the at least one volume toeliminate the violation.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the atleast one storage device comprises at least one media partition that isdedicated to storing media content and at least one data partition thatis dedicated to storing data other than media content, wherein the atleast one volume comprises memory space from both the at least one mediapartition and the at least one data partition.
 11. The apparatus ofclaim 9, wherein the memory further stores instructions that, whenexecuted by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: receivea recording request from the software program that informs the apparatusthat the software program intends to schedule or start a recording ofmedia content.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the memory furtherstores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor,cause the apparatus to: subsequent to receiving the recording request,checking for a quota violation, resulting in a determination that thequota is not violated, and subsequent to the determination that thequota is not violated, performing the recording of media content. 13.The apparatus of claim 9, wherein monitoring use of the at least onevolume to determine whether the quota has been violated comprisesdetermining whether the maximum amount of space that can be used forstoring media content on the at least one volume has been exceeded. 14.The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the memory further stores instructionsthat, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatusto: create the at least one volume; and subsequent to creating the atleast one volume, set the quota on the at least one volume.
 15. Theapparatus of claim 9, wherein reserving the amount of storage space onthe at least one volume for the software program creates a reservationspecifying the amount of storage space, and wherein the memory furtherstores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor,cause the apparatus to: determine whether the reservation should bechanged, wherein determining whether the reservation should be changedis performed according to at least one of a periodic interval or duringa boot up of the apparatus; and responsive to determining that thereservation should be changed, change the reservation.
 16. The apparatusof claim 9, wherein the memory further stores instructions that, whenexecuted by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: receivea volume creation request from the software program specifying the atleast one volume; determine that the software program has permission tocreate the at least one volume; and responsive to determining that thesoftware program has permission to create the at least one volume,create the at least one volume.
 17. A system comprising: a computingdevice; and at least one storage device in communication with thecomputing device, wherein the at least one storage device includes atleast one media partition that is dedicated to storing media content andat least one data partition that is dedicated to storing data other thanmedia content, wherein software programs access the at least one datapartition and the at least one media partition via at least one volume;wherein the computing device is configured to: receive a request from asoftware program to reserve an amount of storage space on the at leastone volume associated with the at least one storage device, determinethat the software program is allowed to reserve the amount of storagespace in accordance with allocation provisioning information defining amaximum amount of space the software program can reserve on the at leastone volume, based at least in part on determining that the softwareprogram is allowed to reserve the amount of storage space, reserve theamount of storage space on the at least one volume for the softwareprogram such that the amount of storage space is available to thesoftware program when the software program schedules or starts arecording of media content, subsequent to reserving the amount ofstorage space, monitor use of the at least one volume to determinewhether a quota has been violated, the quota specifying a maximum amountof space that can be used for storing media content on the at least onevolume, and the maximum amount of space that can be used for storingmedia content on the at least one volume being different from themaximum amount of space the software program can reserve on the at leastone volume, and responsive to determining that the quota has beenviolated, delete at least one item of media content item from the atleast one volume to eliminate the violation.
 18. The system of claim 17,wherein the computing device is further configured to receive contentmedia that comprises television programming from a server.
 19. Thesystem of claim 17, wherein the at least one volume comprises storagespace from a plurality of storage devices that comprises the at leastone storage device.
 20. The system of claim 17, wherein reserving theamount of storage space on the at least one volume for the softwareprogram creates a reservation specifying the amount of storage space,and wherein the computing device is further configured to: periodicallydetermine whether the reservation is violated, and responsive todetermining that the reservation is violated, take corrective action toeliminate the violation of the reservation.
 21. The system of claim 20,wherein the computing device is further configured to: create the atleast one volume; and subsequent to creating the at least one volume,set the quota on the at least one volume.